New school report cards worry education leaders

Officials prep public about lower scores

Oct. 20, 2012

Appleton East High School science teacher Elissa Hoffman with students Shelby Tarr, left, and Malory Christenson in her classroom in Appleton earlier this year. The state's first-ever school report cards go public Monday, and officials are preparing the public about the lower scores. / Wm. Glasheen/The Post-Crescent

Written by

Gannett Wisconsin Media Investigative Team

At a glance

The news: Education leaders are prepping the public for the release of first-ever school report cards based on tougher standards. Background: Every school in the state will be rated on a five-point scale based on performance indicators such as student test scores, graduation rates and achievement gaps. The report cards are one piece of wide-reaching school accountability reforms in Wisconsin. What’s next: Members of the public will be able to find the report cards online at dpi.state.wi.us or through their local school beginning Monday.

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The state’s first-ever school report cards go public Monday, and you might be surprised by the results.

Education officials across the state are prepping parents and others for worse scores than they’re used to seeing, and local administrators are asking the public to consider additional factors beyond the report cards when labeling schools as successful or failing.

The cause of their concern is new, tougher standards that will show only about half of students score at proficient or advanced levels on standardized tests, according to the state Department of Public Instruction. About 80 percent of students scored at that level under the previous standards.

The changes are part of a wide-reaching public school accountability movement that has ushered in a new era of public scrutiny of the results of high stakes testing. Reading and math achievement are now measured using more stringent international standards. Districts must consider the results of those tests when evaluating teachers, and the public will have access to more information about school performance than ever before.

Education leaders and lawmakers worked together to create the new system to replace the decade-old No Child Left Behind law, which required all students to test at proficient or advanced levels by 2014. The U.S. Department of Education granted waivers from that requirement to 32 states, including Wisconsin.

“It’s an opportunity for us to have a Wisconsin home-grown accountability system that reflects what we value instead of being told what to do as we did under the NCLB model,” said Lynette Russell, assistant state superintendent for DPI’s division of student and school success.

The new report cards are the most visible change to date. They’re intended as a tool for the public to hold schools accountable and for educators to better understand their strengths and weaknesses, Russell said.

But, the new scores may be jarring for parents used to seeing better results. They should recognize the lower scores don’t mean a sudden drop in student achievement, but that they reflect higher expectations, said Jeffrey Dickert, administrator of the Cooperative Educational Service Agency No. 7 in Green Bay.

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The state came up with the new scores by recalculating last year’s standardized test results, so “when parents look at the student achievement on this report card, they are going to see advanced and proficient levels that are 30-40 percent when districts had previously reported 80-90 percent,” Dickert said. “We’re not saying your kids are doing any poorer. We’re saying there is a new bar they need to jump to in order to be proficient or advanced.”

Students will begin taking a new standardized test developed specifically for the new assessment and accountability system in 2014.

Interpreting report cards

The state will give every school, including charter schools, an overall performance rating using a five-point scale ranging from “fails to meet expectations” to “significantly exceeds expectations.” The rating is based on a variety of factors, including standardized test scores, student growth, achievement gaps and graduation rates. Report cards will include a numerical index score for each of those subcategories.

A bar graph on the bottom of the report card will show the school’s five-year trend in math and reading test scores, and a brief demographic profile will show the school’s enrollment broken down by ethnicity, disabilities and poverty status.

Each card also will come with 18 pages of detailed performance data used in determining the ratings.

Schools have had access to preliminary report cards for close to a month now to review the data for errors. Administrators shared mixed feelings about the results. They like that the system provides a more comprehensive assessment of school performance, but worry the public and lawmakers will emphasize overall ratings without looking at the underlying data.

“We are much more than a number,” said Julie Mosher, director of curriculum and assessment for the Oshkosh Area School District.

Greg Nyen, student services director for the Stevens Point Area School District, said he believes the report cards are an “outstanding first attempt at trying to provide more in-depth information to our stakeholders.”

“We all know parents are already comparing and contrasting schools all the time, and this is one more piece of data they can consider,” he said.

The state intends to use the report cards for determining the level and type of support it gives to schools, Russell said. The DPI will recognize top performers as “Rewards Schools” and work to disseminate their best practices to struggling school, which will be required to create state-approved turnaround plans.

“All of that is really designed to help people have data in front of them in a usable, timely manner to help them make decisions about what students need instructionally, helping the teacher have more user friendly data at their finger tips throughout the year,” Russell said.